


Marvel at perfection, for it is fleeting.

by TheLadySif



Category: Avengers Academy (Video Game), Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Inspired by Avengers Academy, Loki Feels, Loki Has Issues, Loki Needs a Hug, Loki-centric, Magic, Mentioned Characters, Mutual Pining, Rollerblades & Rollerskates, Secrets, Trials, Why Did I Write This?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-23
Updated: 2016-12-23
Packaged: 2018-09-09 21:31:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8912797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLadySif/pseuds/TheLadySif
Summary: Loki glanced up slowly from his school books as a hand was slammed against the desk in the Archives. Her long black hair had been tied back into a ponytail and she wore a golf cap on her head, red jacket with thumb holes, and black Capri pants. Loki would have recognized her ten miles away. "I've been hunting for you, Loki."





	1. "Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame"- Ben Franklin

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Seyary_Minamoto](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seyary_Minamoto/gifts).



> Well, well, well lovely Mischief Maker... I loved your request especially since I do actually have the Avengers Academy app! I’m adding bonus points for dialogue used from the app :) Guess that might excite you as this has inspired the story you're about to read. I have taken a few creative liberties. I think you might like where this going. This fic kept spiraling out of my control. 
> 
> I will throw in a prize for someone who can guess what the theme here is.

Loki glanced up slowly from his school books as a hand was slammed against the desk in the Archives. Her long black hair had been tied back into a ponytail and she wore a golf cap on her head, red jacket with thumb holes, and black Capri pants. Loki would have recognized her ten miles away. "I've been hunting for you, Loki." 

 _Of course, she would be recruited to the Academy._  Loki thought bitterly to himself _._  He had been a fool to think that such an elite school like Avengers Academy wouldn't recruit her if they had the chance. He'd glance at her records once five years ago when he had gotten a chance after sneaking into their former school's Admissions office for his own file.  _Sif, sports star supreme._  She'd been the star of the Girls’ Track and Field, the Girls’ Softball Team, and the Girls’ Soccer Team. Fast, strong, and absolutely radiated destruction. Had it really been five years? "Hunting seems... aggressive."

"I'm aggressive with little tricksters who cut off my hair, dye it black, and try to trick me into kissing Volstagg. Violent might be a better choice of words," Sif answered, tapping on the desk with her fingers.

"I see you kept your hair black-"

"The black dye ruined my hair, Loki. I had to keep it this way." Sif interrupted him as she slid into the seat in front of him.

"It looks good. It's... nice to see you again." 

"Five years, Loki! I haven't seen you in five years! You said you'd repay me for my hair and you leave without a word-" She sat across the table from him and it was absolute torture. How long was she going to sit there and grill him about leaving? She wouldn't understand. There's no way she could understand. None of his so-called friends at the Academy understood. None of them could understand.

"I had to. Okay? You wouldn't get it." Loki packed his books into his backpack. He glanced at her as he stood up. "You look as ravishing and deadly as ever. If you'll excuse me, I'm late for an important meeting. Somewhere. With someone..." he trailed off as he left the Archives to head back to his dorm.

"Run far away Loki! It makes things far more interesting!" Sif called after him as he ran from her. He'd already done that once anyways, hadn't he? Five years ago seemed like a lifetime. He attempted to navigate through campus by avoiding as many conversations as he could. That was harder to do when Natasha began to walk in sync beside him after he passed by the Robo Dojo. Loki knew she had been staking out the Robo Dojo to see what kind of competition she was up against in the District Wide Martial Arts Tournament at the end of the month. The top contender on her list was someone named Steve Rogers. Loki hadn't seen him in any of the classes he was taking, but it was a pretty big Academy or he could have been a student at another school. However, with a campus this big, there were surely a number of colorful characters lurking around every corner. Loki had run into a few of them on occasion...

Janet was always buzzing with some kind of news, whether it was new fashion designs she had created or the never-ending upcoming school-sponsored event. She was usually pretty busy when Loki bumped into her and only a few rare times had he assisted her with projects. Although, she had given him a nice green jacket that he was sure to wear when it turned colder out so Loki did feel like he owed her for that.

Gwen had been a bit more interesting than Janet was. Although, she had seemed to be permanently glued to her friends, Peter and Mary Jane, she had some nice records for others to borrow. The three of them used to be found studying on the quad, but Gwen used to invite Loki to come listen to her band, even if the others didn't want him there. He'd politely decline for their sake.

While Natasha didn't actually make the list, she was a colorful character herself. There were rumors she transferred from Russia, Monaco, or one of several other countries personally by Director Fury, himself. There was also some rumor about why she left as well... something about Budapest and her ex-boyfriend. Some of the other students claimed she was a spy from either Hydra’s School or the A.I.M. Institute, which Natasha played up extensively by often remarking that people should come with her to Club A so they could spill their darkest secrets over beer and pizza. Somehow, she would always know whatever you didn't want her to know or if you were somewhere you shouldn't be, or with someone you shouldn't be with. Some students claimed she could camouflage herself in a cardboard box and still be able to spy on you.

“I didn't know that you knew Sif." Natasha mentioned almost half-heartedly. Loki recognized that tone of voice as her wanting-to-snoop-without-anyone-knowing-what-she-was-really-up-to voice, it clearly didn't work on him. "How was the Archives?"

"Spying on me again?" Loki questioned her in reply.

"Collecting evidence from the Archives. Fury is up to something... as usual." Natasha answered as they passed outside Club A and headed to the two dormitories.  _More vague answers. How helpful._  Loki thought to himself as Natasha proceeded to ask him another question, "How do you know her?"

"We used to go to the same school." Loki replied shortly. He picked up his pace, not feeling like being interrogated by Natasha again. The Maverick Dorm was just up ahead and Natasha wouldn't be able to follow him to his room.

"Were the two of you friends or something? She seemed to be really pissed at you, but that's par for the course. Who isn't pissed at you?" Natasha questioned as she matched his pace again, trying to gather an answer before they reached the dorm. "Come on, you know you can trust me." Loki slammed the door to the boys’ dormitory behind him before Natasha could grab the door. "Loki! You know you're going to tell me one of the days." She yelled at the glass by which she could see him on the other side. 

Loki dug into his pocket as he approached his dorm room. At least, he could sit back and relax before working on his homework for his shitty literature class. Then again, it was Tuesday. His favorite thing about Tuesdays was that his first class was canceled indefinitely which means he could stay in his dorm room all morning or, as he usually preferred, he could leave campus for breakfast. He favored the later, but he could still grab his notebook to work on his assignment at the Diner.

He grabbed his keys from his pocket and unlocked the door to his dorm room. _Home_. He slung his backpack onto the couch beside his closet. He picked up his phone from beside his bed and glanced at the messages. _Two from Natasha about the Archives. One from Peter and Mary Jane. Probably advice on their Lit essays. One from… Sif. How did she get my number?_ Loki pocketed his phone and wallet from the end table. He grabbed his sling bag and threw his Lit notebook and a handful of pens and pencils into the bag. He glanced at himself in his mirror on the way out. _Need a haircut_. He thought to himself as he closed the door, locking it before he left.

The Diner wasn’t far from the Academy. It only took ten minutes to walk to and it was another reason Loki enjoyed going there for breakfast. Fresh air and the closer he got to the Diner, the closer the smell of good food. He pushed open the door to the Diner and waved at the regulars.

Loki slid into his favorite booth and grabbed the menu from its holder. He had been here several times, but he always enjoyed looking at the menu for some inexplicable reason. The waitress stopped by his table and he ordered a regular cup of coffee and the blueberry waffle special for the day. He grabbed his notebook from his bag and set it on the table, putting the final touches on his draft for his Lit class. The coffee came quickly and Loki savored the warmth of the cup in his hands, a small smile gracing his face.

“I didn’t know you could smile.”  Loki groaned, the smile slipping from his face as he looked up at Sif again. She smirked at him from across his booth as she grabbed the menu from the holder. “What do you recommend?”

“Leaving.” Loki answered bitterly as he took a careful sip of his coffee. He packed away his notebook after doing so. The last thing he wanted was Sif knocking over his coffee and spilling it onto his notes.

The waitress returned with his waffles and Sif ordered the same as Loki, remarking that the specialty waffles looked particularly yummy this morning.

_Yummy._

Loki ran his hand through his hair and down his face as he glared at Sif across the table. She beamed at him as the waitress left. “I did say that I would be hunting you down. You shouldn’t take my threats lightly.”

“I always take your threats lightly. What are you going to do throw me around like one of your ragdolls?” Loki smirked into another sip of coffee. Sif wasn’t that intimidating and Loki was fairly certain he could hold her off if he needed to. What he lacked in brawn, he made up in brains.

“Punk the trickster sounds like fun,” Sif mused aloud while he cut into his waffles- _Punk the trickster? What the hell was that?_ -“but I did actually come here for a purpose. Thank you!” Sif thanked the waitress as she set down her coffee and plate of waffles.

“Don’t worry about the bill. It’s on the house since it’s the first time he’s brought a date with him.” The waitress answered. She winked at the two of them before heading back to the other diners.

Loki turned as red as Sif’s jacket and almost choked on his waffles. “It’s not a date!”

Sif stuck her tongue out at him, “You’d be lucky to be on a date with me, Loki.”

His phone chimed and he pulled it out from his pocket. _Natasha_. What did she want now? He opened the message and turned bright red as he read the message.

_How’s your breakfast date with Sif going?_

How does she even know? Maybe she really is a spy. Loki wondered to himself as he hurriedly put his phone away. “What are you doing here, Sif?” Loki inquired as he poked at his waffles.

“Inedaguyd.” She answered with a mouthful. Loki rubbed at his temple with his free hand as he waited for Sif to finish chewing to answer him. “I need a guide around the Academy.”

Loki groaned again, “Why are you coming to me?” He jabbed a piece of waffle violently with his fork before eating it.

“Because Fury assigned you to be my guide,” Sif replied as she polished off her waffles. “Check your email.”

“He secretly knows I hate checking my email.” Loki grumbled to himself as he grabbed out his phone again to check her story. He clicked on the Spam folder and sure enough, there was a recent email from Director Fury amongst the rest of the emails from Director Fury. Loki opened the email and read it quickly before glaring at Sif over his phone. “Fine. I’ll be your guide. I won’t be a good one though.”

“I never expected you to be.” Sif smiled again as she drank her coffee. Either Sif or her incessant smiling was going to be the death of him. His phone buzzed again. _Natasha._

**_Just heard your Sif’s new guide XD_ **

He hated every single moment he was Sif’s guide. Loki swore that this was Fury punishing him for some reason. He’d have to double check his spam folder later to see if there was a reason or if the Fury was just acting like a dick. It didn’t help that Natasha was stalking the both of them and the constant beeping on his phone, caused him to either silence it and want to leave it in his dorm for the day… And then there was Sif.

Sif couldn’t stop smiling at him, especially in the mere hours she managed to outsmart him when he tried to hide from her. Was she in cahoots with Natasha? The very thought of the two of them being best friends sent a shiver down his spine especially since Sif had stories about his youth. He shuddered at the thought of Natasha finding out about his first attempt at playing soccer with Sif and her friends.

Loki pinched the bridge of his nose as Sif pulled him along the corridor of what he had dubbed as “The Arena”. Perhaps, Loki shouldn’t have referred to this place as “The Arena” as Sif spent the next half-hour describing her interest in Gladiator fights that she could have in a place like this. Typically, he spent every waking moment avoiding the physical sporty side of the campus. There was no use being here because it didn’t benefit him or his scholarship either. Yet, he was sure that Sif would be all over this place. _Sif, sports star supreme_.

She was staring at the stage of The Arena now. Loki looked at his watch and then looked at her. She’d been staring at the stage for a solid ten minutes now. She looked deep in thought and suddenly, Loki felt very odd as he watched her. He cleared his throat in order to get her attention. Sif turned to look at him.

“Was there anything else you wanted to check out while we’re here?” Loki asked, the weird feeling returned as Sif stared at him now.

“I should head back to my dorm but if you’re free some other time, we can continue the tour then,” Sif answered, shoving her hands into her jacket pockets.

Loki breathed a sigh of relief, “I’ll escort you there then.”

“No need. I need to stop by the administration office to check up on scholarships,” Sif replied. Loki could tell she was lying. It was always easy to tell when Sif was lying. She would get red in her cheeks and twist her hair around her finger like she was now. Loki wasn’t going to argue with her though. His stomach was twisting into tighter knots the more she stared at him.

“See you later, Sif.” He said before turning away from her, the pressure lifted from his shoulders as he walked to the Archives again.

* * *

 

Sif was a firm believer in that everything happens for a reason. It was fate when she applied to Avengers Academy and was recruited by Director Fury. Surely, that was why she was here; even though, her application for a sports scholarship was rejected on her first day here. Too many applicants had applied and they had been more qualified than she had.

She’d spent her first day on campus crying in her dorm room. _Why would Fury recruit her if they were going to reject her from soccer and baseball scholarships? None of it made any sense._ Sif had always prided herself on doing her best in her extra-curriculars, but now she wondered what she should do with herself after being rejected for sports. Her computer beeped at her from across the room.

_Huh. New email._

Sif padded across her dorm room and checked the message.

 

_Avengers Academy provides a guide, a returning student, to help the new students become acquainted with the campus grounds._

_The following new students and their guides are listed below:_

_Kamala Khan - Sam Wilson_

_Greer Grant Nelson - Janet Van Dyne_

_Jessica Drew - Peter Parker_

_Steve Rogers - Natasha Romanoff_

_Sif Tyrsdottir - Loki Laufeyson_

She’d stopped reading there. “Laufeyson?” She had wondered aloud. It didn’t make any sense to her. She had known Loki almost all of her life. He was Thor’s brother. They were Odinsons… unless Loki wasn’t. She recalled a late night phone conversation with Thor some weeks after Loki had left. He had an outburst with their father before he disappeared. What if Loki was truly adopted by the Odinsons and had found out about his adoption after all this time?

“Poor Loki. No wonder he ran away.” Sif murmured to herself as she stepped away from her computer to stare out her dorm window. The campus was pretty busy for a Tuesday morning. Everyone was heading for morning classes so early. She didn’t expect anyone to be up this early but lo and behold, many students were swarming about campus.

Sif spotted a green scarf floating about campus. She stared after him as he disappeared into the library before she hurriedly pulled herself together. Her hair was a disheveled mess so she tied it back into a quick ponytail and threw her golf visor over her bangs. She grabbed her favorite jacket and slipped on the first pair of pants she could find before dashing out of her dorm room. Would he even recognize her? Sif ran down the stairs, taking them two at a time until she reached the landing and through the door open, still running.

She was so nervous as she searched the library- sorry, _Archives_ , one girl had corrected her on her location when she had asked her for help in finding Loki. Sif wondered if she could really trust someone who was breaking into the school’s files as she was calmly telling her where she could find Loki at. The red headed girl had left the Archives before Sif could gather any more information. Yet, Sif managed to find him and she said the first dumb thing that appeared in her thoughts. She felt like slamming her head against the desk rather than her hand. She nervously tapped her fingers against the desk until her legs grew so shaky that she had to sit down. Why was she saying such rude things to him? Loki had changed so much in five years. Somehow, he had gotten more collected with himself, more confident with himself. Then, he ran away from her and she felt weird as he did so. She couldn’t put her finger on the feeling.

It wasn’t until she tracked him down at the diner, with that red headed girl’s help, that she made the connection. The waitress had said Sif was his date and when Sif had responded, a strange warmth flooded her. _You’d like a date with him_. She stuffed herself with waffles to cover the blush on her cheeks. Maybe, chasing after him wasn’t such a great idea, but now he was her guide so she was stuck with him just as much as he was stuck with her.

She hadn’t been surprised when he showed her around the Sport Academic Buildings. She was rather impressed with the Arena and just to punish Loki, she went on a tirade describing epic Gladiator fights that could take place here. Yet, her mind wandered as she gazed around. This could be an almost perfect place to hold Theatre shows rather any sporting events. There was decent seating angling downward toward the stage area. The columns could easily support flats or decorative curtains to hide the backstage area behind them. She was curious to follow the stairs downward to see what accommodations awaited there, but Loki’s gaze boring into her skull made her want to hide in her dorm again. Perhaps, that was a great idea and she made the suggestion to him.

She could tell he was grateful as they went their separate ways. The trek to her dorm was a long one from this side of campus but she was glad to kick off her shoes once she made it to her bed. She peeled off her jacket and tossed it onto the chair before curling up under the blankets. She could absolutely stay here forever and never leave. It was almost perfect. She sighed as her phone buzzed at her. She reached across to her end table and looked at the message.

 

 ** _How’s life at the Academy?_**  

_It’s interesting. You’ll never guess who I ran into at the Academy._

**_That one guy, Tony Stank?_ **

_Loki, actually._

 

Her phone began to ring and she rolled her eyes as she answered Thor’s phone call. “Yes, Thor, it was him.”

“Are you serious? Are you sure it was him?” Thor questioned her.

Sif laid back against her pillows as she spoke, “100 percent. He is supposed to be my guide around the campus. I just returned to my dorm after he showed me part of the campus.”

“How is he? Is he okay?”

“He seems to be fine. I have a question for you, actually. Did you know he was adopted?” Sif asked him.

“What? You can’t be serious.” Thor replied.

“The School’s Director sent out an email for the guides. It said his name was Loki Laufeyson.” Sif turned on her side as she stared at the posters about her room. “I don’t think it is possible for him to fake official records. He may actually not be your brother.”

“No, Loki is my brother…” Thor trailed off a bit and the silence was uncomfortable. Thor was never this quiet. “He is my brother… even if he isn’t related by blood. We grew up together, raised together. I still see him as my little brother chasing after us all with a bucket of frogs.”

“You should talk to your father and try to get the whole story. I doubt Loki will ever mention it to me. I’m sure that’s why he ran away all those years ago.” Sif responded.

“I will. I’ll let you know what they say-” A knock came from Sif’s dorm door.

“Someone’s at the door. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Goodbye Sif.” Thor responded before Sif ended the call and crawled out her bed.

She opened the door. A smaller girl stood on the other side with a seemingly infectious grin, decked out in full bumblebee colors. “Uh… hello.” Sif greeted her, stepping out of her room to converse with the girl in the hall.

“Hi! I’m Janet Van Dyne. You must be Sif. I couldn’t help but notice that Loki was assigned to be your guide and he’s rather reluctant to do anything that Director Fury asks him to do. If you ever wanted a proper guide around campus, I’m your girl!” The chipper girl remarked cheerfully. Another girl bumped into Sif as Janet continued to talk. Sif looked down the hall to see where she went but the girl had seemingly disappeared. “Now, we also have special events happening almost every few weeks in order to promote teamwork and school spirit among us all! This upcoming week Director Fury has authorized a fantastic getting to know each other event and the planning committee could definitely use a hand or two! Can I count on you?” She handed Sif a flyer and then looked at Sif expectantly.

“Sure, why not?” Sif agreed, glancing at the flyer.

“Perfect! Make sure to be at the meeting tomorrow at 3pm precisely or I’ll track you down and drag you to the meeting myself.” Janet gave her a grin before heading down to the hall and knocking on the next room.

Sif stared after her a moment before closing her door. “This Academy certainly is strange.”

“You don’t know the half of it.” Another voice commented. Sif whipped around to see the red headed girl from before, leaning against her desk with a folder marked Confidential. “The name’s Natasha. I see you applied for two sport scholarships… and denied both. Fury’s making this almost interesting.”

“How… When did you…?” Sif looked back at her door before turning back to Natasha. “This is my room. Is that my personal file?”

“Would you like a look? If not, I saved a copy in my room. You can check it out later.” The redhead flipped through the pages. “Huh, that’s peculiar.”

“What is peculiar?” Sif asked, crossing her arms in front of her.

“You and Loki used to go to the same school and now the both of you are here. Fury does love irony.”

“Loki and I used to be friends. There’s nothing peculiar about that.” Sif replied, sitting down on the edge of her bed.

“He hasn’t mentioned you before. Not once. Friends don’t communicate anymore?” Natasha asked as she looked up over the top of the file.

“You probably know already, but Loki ran away from his family, his friends, his old life.” Sif answered. She could feel anger bubbling up. It was wrong for this girl to be meddling in personal affairs of both her own and of Loki’s. “I also have a feeling that you know that stealing confidential files from the school could result in your expulsion from the Academy.”

“I didn’t mean to hit a sore spot. I only came to warn you,” she said as she closed the file. “The Director is behind something sinister here. I want your help in figuring out what it is.”

“I’m not going to help you. Get out before I tell the Director what you’re up to.”

“There is something happening in this Academy. None of us belong here.” Natasha told her as she crossed the room to the door. “You seemed smarter than the others. If you are, you’ll see that I’m right.” Natasha exited from Sif’s room, slamming the door behind her.


	2. "The gluttons dig their own graves with their teeth" - Proverb

Sif wasn’t sure it had been the best idea to help be a part of the planning committee now that she was finishing the set up with the others. The planning committee had decided that the students would get to know each through a “Skate and Surf Meet & Greet”. The surf referring to various seafood provided by the school’s catering and the skate referring to an actual skating ring. It seemed like the other students were having a good time. Maybe that why was Sif had agreed to Janet’s request of going out on the skating rink with her.

As she stood in line to get the skates, she weighed the challenges in front of her. It was going to be easy wasn’t it? The skates looked stable enough. Four wheels attached to a shoe in a solid box form. Janet was in front of her, but when she received her skates, they looked different than most of the others. The wheels were in a solid line as opposed to the nice stable and sturdy box skates. “Skates or blades?” The attendant asked her. Sif stared at him blankly.

“Blades tend to be for more advanced skaters.” Janet explained to her before turning to the attendant. “She’ll take skates.” Sif gave him her shoe size and waited as he disappeared into the back to grab skates for her. “Have you skated before?”

“No, this’ll be my first time.”

“You’ll do fine, I’m sure.” Janet beamed as the attendant set Sif’s skates on the counter. Sif grabbed them and walked away to one of the benches on the side of the rink. She had laced the skates up tightly and now the moment of truth was before her. She watched another student take off in the skates attached to his feet. They seemed simple enough. She grabbed the railing beside her and pulled herself up. She pushed off slowly toward the rink, following after Janet who had taken off already.

 Sif felt her wheel slide right before she fell forwards. She threw out her hands to catch herself. Pain filled her senses as she collided with the floor. In hindsight, it probably wasn’t a good idea to throw out her hands and now her knees ached following her hard collision with the floor. Beside her, someone circled around to a stop. “Here, take my hand.”

She looked up to see Loki, extending a hand toward her. “Why are you being so helpful?” She asked him as she grabbed his hand. He slowly helped her up so neither of them would fall back down.

“You fell, and I’m your guide. Fury would be watching me all night if I stood by and did nothing.” Loki admitted as Sif steadied herself on her sliding skates. “Have you skated before?” Sif shook her head no. “It’s easy. I’ll help you.”

For the next half hour, Loki attempted to show her how to skate so she wouldn’t fall every time she tried to move. He had been dragged along by Peter and Mary Jane who had tracked him down in his very secret study room somehow. He would have to have a talk with Natasha about her meddling because he was beginning to be sick of being her target all the time. He had skated here a few times in the past. Usually, it was during the rare occasion of when Gwen and the others had invited him along on some social outing. He had gotten quite skilled with the rollerblades in no time especially after he purchased a pair for himself. It was almost like magic.

He’d been resting when he saw her fall. It felt like instinct when he hurried to see if she had been hurt. There was something familiar about this- hurrying to save Sif or checking her injuries. There were flashes in his mind of giant blue men and Sif in some kind of armor as he circled around to a stop beside her. He shook his mind and the thoughts disappeared for now. He extended a hand toward her and as she grabbed his hands, more images came to him mind. He didn’t have time to dwell on them. Perhaps later if he decided to go for that swim that Tony had mentioned a few times today.

Even now as Loki held her hand, images were trying to replay themselves in his mind. Sif gripped his hand hard whenever she thought she might fall. The pain caused the images to fade for a little while. They had been fine skating for a while now when some girl with a long blue sweater swerved in front of them to avoid hitting the two guys in front of her. Sif stumbled and gripping Loki’s hand tightly took him with her when she fell. He heard Sif hiss with pain as she collided with the floor again. He turned toward her, those odd images returning. “Are you alright?”

“I think I better head back to my room to avoid further injury,” Sif answered as Loki helped her up while he pushed himself off the ground. They made quick work of removing themselves from the skating rink and moved to sit on a bench while they took off their skates. Sif hissed in pain again as she attempted to pull off her skate. “I may have injured my ankle.”

“Let me take a look,” Loki insisted as he examined her ankle. It didn’t look broken or sprained but it was slightly swollen. “You may have just fallen on it wrong. I’ll escort you back to your dorm to make sure you don’t fall again.”

“That’s not-” Sif tried to argue. He had been oddly helpful this entire night and it was starting to make her suspicious.

“I am your guide around campus. You could get lost on your way back during the night.” Loki interrupted her. He took her skates back to the attendant and returned with her shoes. As Sif put on her shoes, Loki went to a locker and grabbed his own shoes after putting his skates into a gym bag. He slipped them on easily and caught up with Sif, who appeared to be very poorly trying to sneak out the door without him. He grabbed her hand so she couldn’t leave him behind. She reluctantly accepted his help, her hand still being held by his. It started to sprinkle, the rain cooling him off from the warmth of skating earlier. He was about to say something to her as they approached the dorm.

Sif spoke instead, “Did you know her?” She pointed toward the memorial beside the Avengers Dorm. Loki’s eyes followed where she pointed, and then, suddenly, he wished he hadn’t helped her back to her dorm.

 _In Memory of Gwen Stacy_.

Loki felt numb. Were his feet moving? Was he still breathing? He couldn't feel anything. He felt cold, very, very cold. He thought he should move, run as far as he could, or hide away in his dormitory for the rest of the semester. He couldn't feel the ground beneath his feet. He should be grateful. He was here. He was still here. The voice in the back of his mind wouldn't leave him alone- You should have been faster. It's your fault. You might as well have killed her. It's your fault. He didn't remember the last time he slept... Was he even breathing-

Pain stung him across his face. He grabbed his cheek and stared at Sif slowly at she yelled at him, "Loki!  Will you just talk to me already?"

He felt less numb now, but his mind began to race with thoughts.  _Sif, Sif. Sif, sports star supreme, no she’s a champion. She always keeps me out of my thoughts. She's good- too good, but...?_  He surged forward and kissed her hard on the lips. He just needed to feel- something, anything. Anything but what he felt other than this moment. He needed Sif to clear his thoughts so he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. He just wanted to forget- couldn't he be allowed to forget? Just once? Just once he needed to! Instead images flashed into his mind. Images of him and Sif in that golden palace, of smirks, of bitter remarks to each, daggers- the giant blue men- lighting- pain-

Sif’s hands were on his shoulders bringing him back to this reality. She was going to push him away. She didn’t feel the way he felt about her. Too many emotions were bubbling against his collected surface and he couldn’t control them anymore. He started crying as he pushed her away, running from her back to his dorm room. He could lock the door and hide away.

He couldn’t help thinking about it the entire next day instead of his classes and his work. The images felt fuzzy. He approached Tony and after some convincing and one favor later, he managed to get the key to Start Tower. It was very dark by the time he crossed the campus and used the key to get into the pool on the top floor. Stark Tower had a clear dome over the ceiling of the pool. Loki quickly stripped and dove into the heated waters. He could definitely get used to having a private pool to himself. As he floated on his back, the kiss with Sif popped back into his mind.

Yet, it wasn’t the kiss from before. This was a different one. She was wearing that armor again and looking at him angrily. He could see himself glaring back at her until she lunged at him. She was kissing him, instead of attacking him like he had assumed, and he was kissing her back. The image was replaced quickly by another. Sif was holding a sword against his neck in a grand golden palace with tall golden columns. He laughed at her and then there was look shared between them. Something unspoken but carrying so much weight. He could feel the weight being placed on his shoulders.

Loki felt himself sinking into the water. There were more images of the golden palace, of other people he didn’t quite recognize, and others he knew all too well. There was some piece of paper being handed to him. He looked down but the water blurred everything together. Seven? Seven what? Loki felt his feet connect with the bottom of the pool. Air. He needed air. He needed it now. He pushed himself back to the surface. As soon as he broke the surface, he gasped and coughed up some of the water. He grabbed the edge of the pool and steadied himself.

Whatever he was seeing or remembering as it had felt, he shouldn’t have forced it all at once. He’d have to be patient and take these odd memories in moderation. He pulled himself out of the pool, grabbed a towel from the rack so he could dry himself off and head back to his room. A good night’s sleep could take his mind off of this.

* * *

"Why are you such a glutton for punishment?" Sif inquired from Loki as she leaned against his dorm room, preventing him from entering. “Breaking and entering in to Stark Tower? I saw you sneaking across campus from my room last night.” Sif was getting to be as bad as Natasha was. He made a mental note to try to keep them apart as much as possible.

"My intentions were borderline pure at first, but I couldn't resist a midnight swim." He reached around her to open the door, causing her to stumble back into his room. He knew Sif wasn't about to leave him alone but at least they could have this discussion somewhere that Natasha hadn't bugged. He closed the door behind himself as he tossed his bag beside his bed. “It isn’t breaking and entering when I have the key.” He grabbed his keys from his pocket and jingled them for effect before setting them down on the end table beside his bed.

"Did you steal those keys as well?” Sif stood next to the windowsill and looked at the rain falling heavily on the other side. 

Loki crouched down to the plant beside her. He used a water bottle to water the plant as it was in desperate need of sustenance lest it wither and die in the next week. "I consider it more as ‘borrowing’ if I plan on returning the keys, which I do. Is that all you came here for? Seeing why I snuck out last night?" 

"Loki, I came here for answers. I just want to understand... You kissed me the other day. Was that a trick as well? Another distraction so you could run away?" Sif questioned as she leaned against the wall, facing him. Her arms were crossed against her chest. Another way of trying to protect herself.

Loki stood up, setting the water bottle on the dresser. What could he say to that? He had... still had feelings for her but he had no intention of purposely kissing her yesterday. He accidentally acted on impulse rather than thinking his actions through. "No, I... I'd never trick you like that."

"You kissed me." Sif said again, almost accusingly as if it was a crime. 

Loki went to his dresser and turned on the stereo, before he sat down on the swirling chair beside his desk. 'Yes, I did." He didn't understand why he felt nervous. Was it those feelings for her? Was that why he was still so nervous? He swiveled back and forth a bit.

"Why?" She asked him, her eyes had narrowed as she stared at him. 

'I..." Loki swallowed hard, still swiveling on his chair. How was he supposed to answer? The music drifted between them. That voice singing sound familiar... where…?

 That's right. This was Gwen's remix/mixtape CD thing she'd given him after he missed the last time she played with her band. She'd done a cover of this song last year and managed to get it recorded by the time the semester started up. He should really give this to Peter when he saw him next, he thought to himself as the song faded out and a new one began. 

"Why?"

Loki shook his head of his thoughts before looking up at Sif. "I wanted to."

Sif pursed her lips together, thinking to herself, as Loki turned away from her to his laptop. “Why were you crying then?”

“Sif, I don’t want to talk-”

“Answer the question,” Sif interrupted him, turning his chair back to face her.

“I made a mistake-” Loki tried to say but Sif interrupted him again.

“How is it a mistake if you wanted to do it?” He did have to agree that she made a solid point. She was always good at pointing out his mistakes.

 _Was it a mistake then? I did want to kiss her, just not like that._ He felt foolish and a blush slowly creeped onto his face as he thought about what it would be like to kiss her properly. _Wait a second-_ “Sif! Shouldn’t you be angry? Pounding me into the ground?”

Sif put her hand on her hip and stared him down, “Loki, answer me!”

“Fine! I wanted to kiss you! I have feelings for you! I always have! What more do you want me to say?!” Loki yelled at her as he stood up to match her glare. His heart was pounding, absolutely racing in his chest. He swallowed hard as he stared at her. Why did she have to be even more adorable when she looked angry?

“Kiss me.” She answered.

Loki blinked at her as her words slowly sunk in. “What?

“You’re such a fool, Loki Odinson,” Sif rolled her eyes as she grabbed his shoulders and pulled him into a kiss. Sif was kissing him. Sif was kissing him! Panic flooded his senses. What was he supposed to do? He shoved her back.

“Why did you do that?” He asked, stepping back and sending his rolling desk chair into the wall behind him.

Sif smiled as she stepped forward and hit upside the head, “I wanted to, you dork.”

“I’m adopted.” Loki blurted out in return.  “That’s why I left.”

“What?”

“Five years ago. I found out I was adopted. Thor isn’t my brother.” Loki explained to her. Why was he telling her all this? Did she learn secret-telling techniques from Natasha that somehow involved kissing him?

“Nice try, you’re dodging.” Sif took another step toward him.

“I’m serious, Sif.” Loki grabbed her shoulders, stopping her from getting any closer to him. Why wasn’t she surprised? This had been his big secret. “I’m adopted.”

Sif considered his words for a moment, “It does seem a bit obvious, looking back now. You and Thor were always opposites. Everyone said Thor and I were so alike. I guess that must be why I like you.” Loki felt heat rush to his cheeks. “Opposites attract, you know?” She smiled at him in the same way she was always smiling at him, as if she knew something he didn’t.

“Uh huh,” Loki nodded slowly, not really listening to her. Why was he even talking? He was probably digging himself into a deeper grave.

Sif leaned forward and kissed his cheek, causing him to blush even further. He touched his cheek gently as he stared at her. His feelings for Sif were getting out of control. “When you’re not a complete asshole, you’re pretty cute as well.” His blush reddened even more. He certainly needed to get himself in check. If Natasha and the others find out about his feelings for Sif, they’d tease him endlessly especially if he was blushing as red as he was right now.  He felt himself completely at Sif’s mercy at this moment. “Loki.” She snapped her fingers in front of his face, pulling him out of his stupor.

She tucked her hair back behind her ear. “Yes, Sif?” He didn’t even notice she wasn’t wearing her golf cap today.

“I still want you to kiss me again… if you want to, that is.” Was she blushing? “But I get it if you don’t want to,” Sif continued. _Ohh_ … now he understood. She had taken a page out of his book, or Natasha’s at this rate, in trying to get him to kiss her. Loki smirked to himself. Sif had a lot to learn before she could manipulate him.

He tilted her chin up with his thumb and leaned toward her. Sif’s eyes fluttered close as he neared and his hand grabbed hold of hers. He brushed his cheek against hers as he leaned in so he could whisper in her ear, “Dearest Sif, you have no idea of the things I want to do to you.”

When he pulled back slightly to look into her eyes again, the look in her eyes had changed from her usual playfulness to the look of starving lioness. “Why don’t you show me then?”

Loki felt the urge to surge forward and show her exactly what he meant, but as he looked at her, a new feeling took over. He felt compelled to listen to that small feeling, that nagging voice in his mind. “I want to. I truly do but I want this to last. One night of indulgence could not compare to a potential lifetime of happiness.”

Sif gave him a smile, “I understand.” She leaned forward and kissed his cheek again. “May I stay here regardless? It looks like the weather looks particularly nasty outside. I wouldn’t want to get caught in it on my way across campus.”

Loki glanced outside to see the rain and wind had picked up significantly in the past half-hour. “You should probably stay inside. It looks like the upcoming storm will only get worse before it gets any better.” He rubbed the back of his neck as he looked back at her. “I’ve got a few movies on my laptop we can watch or there’s a few television shows if you’re interested… I’ve got Flash, Arrow, Justice League-”

“Superhero shows?” Sif asked, raising an eyebrow as she smirked at him.

“Movies it is.” Loki decided, not wanting to embarrass himself any further. Sif grabbed one of his pillows and made herself comfortable on his bed while Loki grabbed his laptop and settled himself down beside her. “You can pick which one you want to watch. I’ve seen them all about a dozen times.”

Sif curled against him as the movie started and Loki wrapped an arm around her. The movie continued on as Sif fell asleep against his arm. Loki closed his laptop carefully, setting it out of harm’s way. He laid back against his bed as Sif tiredly laid down beside him, curling up underneath his blankets. He watched her sleep as his own eyes began to droop. Before he knew, the two of them had fallen asleep.


	3. “What is right is often forgotten by what is convenient” - Bodie Thoene

Loki turned toward his phone as it chimed in the middle of the night. Sif shifted beside him at the noise. He glanced at her over his shoulder as she curled up against him. He could get used to waking up beside her. A large part of him wanted nothing more than to hold her close and sleep for the rest of the day. It was very tempting. He turned back toward her, gently pushing her hair away from her face. Sif sighed contently as she stirred slightly. “Mmmm… Just five more minutes.”

“Sleep as long as you like, Sif.” Loki pressed a kiss to her forehead. Yet, reality always seemed to chime in and remind him why he couldn’t lose himself in fantasy and daydreams. His phone chimed again and Loki grabbed it to silence it. Two messages from Natasha. He sighed heavily as he opened the messages. The light blinded him until he dimmed the screen, squinting at her message.

**_I have evidence that Director Fury was involved in Gwen’s death. It wasn’t an accident._ **

Loki sat up on the edge of his bed, rereading the message over again. The events of that night replayed in his head like a reoccurring nightmare.

_"Stay there! Keep everyone clear of the front entrance!" He shouted at Natasha as he ran for the front doors of the Avengers dormitory. He had seen Gwen on the edge of the roof. Peter wasn’t too far from her, hand reaching out to her._

_Loki could feel his heart racing in his chest as he ran up the stairs. Peter can't do this alone. He'll need help like he always does. The pounding of his feet on the stairs tried to keep up with the pounding in his chest. Why did they have to make this dormitory so damn tall? Loki shoved the roof door open and hurried onto the roof, looking around for Peter and Gwen. Peter was throwing up onto the ground. Loki whipped around in a circle searching for Gwen. Where was she? Where was Gwen? "Peter, where's Gwen?"_

_Peter let out a sob in reply as the rain continued to pour down heavily now._

_Loki moved to his side before speaking again. "Where is Gwen? Where is she?!"_

_"I-" His answer was cut short by another sob as he wrapped his arms around his stomach. "I-It was too... too wet. I- I tried-"_

_Loki's stomach lurched forward as he slowly stepped toward the edge and peered over.  He turned and crumpled to his knees. The knot in his stomach twisted, sending bile up his throat until he also threw up onto the ground._

_"S-she slipped. She f-fell backwards. I- It's my fault!"_

_Everything that happened next was just one giant blur from the ambulance and police arriving on campus to the conversation with Fury in his office, the looks of pain and sadness on Peter and Mary Jane’s tear-streaked faces, his conversation with the campus counselor what’s-her-name Potts, and finally to Natasha poking and prodding him this morning as he walked across campus with her tagging along beside him once again._

**I’ve found proof. Meet me in the Archives as soon as you’re done with Sif.**

It had been months now since the accident. He remembers it too clearly now as he looks at the memorial in front of the Avengers Dormitory while passes by on his way to the Archives. He pulled at his collar as he glanced at the security cameras. The usual red glowing light was turned off, most likely by Natasha’s doing to keep their meeting a secret. Loki pushed the door open and prepared himself for what he was going to find.

It was almost strange how quiet the Archives were during the night. Not even a good kind of strangely quiet like when students are here working on homework, but a creepy unsettling quiet. It made him feel cold as he walked carefully through the shelves of books back toward the computers. He could hear someone typing fiercely and the soft glow of a computer screen. He carefully looked around the corner only to find that Natasha had stopped typing and was leaning back against her chair staring at him.

“It’s about time you showed up,” she said to him as she set her chair back on the ground and began typing once again.

“You said you found proof that Gwen’s death wasn’t accidental?” Loki asked as he approached her.

“It was, but it wasn’t… if that makes any sense to you,” Natasha answered. Loki glanced at the screen and saw quite a bit of computer code and more was being added as Natasha typed. Natasha reached over and slid a file across the desk toward him. “She slipped by accident, but Fury pushed her up onto that roof. She was going to die the minute she went up there.” Loki picked up the file and flipped through it. Several pages were marked out with black marker. Natasha had gone through and circled key words with red pen. “Someone had been bullying her through texts and emails. Mary Jane and Peter had no clue. All sources that I can find for them all lead back to Fury in some way.”

“He’s the one in charge. Why would he want to bully a student into going up into the roof?” Loki asked her as he continued to flip through the pages. It was better to be thorough and see if there was anything that Natasha missed in her read-throughs. A new perspective could uncover much not seen when one read through a well-detailed file.

“I’ve got a theory,” Natasha began to explain her theory without looking away from the screen, “None of us actually belong here and I believe that this campus is really a cover for something shifty that the Director is in. Why else would he have to recruit students to come here? Shouldn’t they be wanting to apply themselves? Why aren’t we seeing more applications? Besides the weird and random enrollments happening, there’s a new event every few weeks. To keep the campus and students too busy to look at what is really happening under their noses? There is too much happening here and too little money in the school’s accounts to possible have these events going on all the time. No one’s benefiting from these events. We aren’t even doing any realistic fundraisers. Just event after event.”

“You may be right. We do seem to have a lot of well-funded events especially for a new campus.” Loki agreed as he flipped another page over. “Project Icarus?”

“Look through that one carefully,” she warned him as she grabbed the mouse and began to click through file folders on the computers. “From what I can tell, it looks like it’s targeting you. It looks like there is a project designation for each of us in the system.”

“Targeting me?” Loki questioned.

“Yes, it says something about putting you through trials. It all seems to be very vague about the trials and what they may entail. I was hoping you might be able to figure it out,” Natasha resumed typing as she tried to hack her way into a secure folder path. “Take the file and get back to me with what you think. In the meantime, keep a low profile. Wouldn’t want to tip off the Director with knowledge you shouldn’t have.”

Loki began to leave but stopped before getting too far, “Is there one for Sif?”

“It’s too early for any good information but it’s in that file you have- Project Odette, I believe.” Natasha answered, glancing back at him over her shoulder.

“Thank you. I’ll talk to you later,” Loki replied as he turned back to leave the Archives. He’d prefer to read this file somewhere far away from these creepy books, anyone could be lurking behind the shelves.

Loki read over the files back in the safety of his room the next day once Sif had left. He supposed he could have shared the information with her, but it could put her in potential danger if she knew what was inside the files. He had locked the door after closing the blinds in his room. If they were monitoring him, it would be harder to do once he swept his room over for listening devices and cameras. Once he was certain that the room was clean, he opened the files.

“These can’t be right,” Loki slammed the files down in front of Natasha’s face as he approached her in the Archives that night. “Aliens from outer space? Mind control devices? Whatever this is about, it isn’t about me.”

“Loki-” Natasha attempted to say but he interrupted her.

“It says that I’m the one responsible for these made up events.”

“I don’t think they’re-” Natasha tried to argue.

“If these were real, then half of New York would be destroyed wouldn’t it?” Loki all but yelled at her. He grabbed the files and threw them into the trash can next to one of the study desks. “Complete and utter garbage. Tell me you didn’t try to make something up in order to make me help you figure out what Director Fury is planning for the next event. I’ve got better things to do with my time than to chase fairytales!” He turned on his heel and began to head to the door.

“Look, I’m trying to do what’s right for a change. I didn’t make this up. I thought you would help me get to the bottom of this mystery. If you think if that I am remotely wrong in any way, walk out of this room right now.” Natasha told him. She wasn’t yelling at him but he could tell she was angry with him. If he walked out the door, he could stay oblivious forever. It would be easier that way. Not knowing what was going on and returning to his life as he knew it to be. Part of him didn’t want those files to be right. Some alternate him terrorizing and destroying half of New York, along with a small town in New Mexico?

Yet, he had felt it that day Gwen fell. Something wasn’t right. That was why he stayed at this campus. He was determined to figure out what was wrong and fix it. His reckless, self-destructing behavior needed to stop if he was going to make things right again. Something sinister was lurking beneath this Academy and Loki was determined that he would be the one to find out what.

Loki stopped in his tracks as he reached the door. He could feel Natasha’s eyes glaring into his back. “No one else is involved. We figure out what is happening. No one else.” Loki demanded as one of his terms for staying, turning back to stare at her.

“Fine. No one else.” Natasha agreed simply.

* * *

It had been a few weeks now since Loki and Natasha had begun to dig into Fury’s secret files looking for as much information as possible. If they were going to uncover what was sinister force was providing these files with these destructive events, they had to work quietly and diligently. They couldn’t risk missing anything important if they were careless and just quickly sorted through the mess.

 The only thing odd that struck Loki about these files was Sif’s. There was no mention of her tied to these events. From what he could tell, there was some connection between her, the number seven, and the courage of a true heart, but the specifics had been marked out and Natasha hadn’t been able to find out anything more about what they were planning.

 Loki spent his downtime with her, hoping to keep his life looking as normal as possible in case Fury was watching him. Sif had joined some of the technical theater crew. They were always in dire need of people to help out with their shows and Loki also joined to be closer to Sif. If he and Natasha found anything, he could protect her if he was close to her. That was what he reasoned anyway.

 It had been a normal day when everything went wrong. There had been telltale signs alerting Loki that nothing was right. To start with, Natasha never replied to his messages nor did she send him any. He wondered if she would be able to keep herself composed so seriously and calmly if Fury and his Board of Directors were interrogating her.

 The second sign had been Janet’s crying in the middle of the school quad. She held out a flyer for one of the school’s events with big black letters marked on top of the flyer with the word “CANCELLED”. She had even confirmed it with the counselor, Miss Potts. All school sponsored events had been cancelled until further notice.

 One of the columns fell in the arena, taking the entire set for the upcoming play with it as it crashed. He, Sif, and many of the others were devastated at seeing all of their hard work destroyed.

 Then there came the security officers. Men dressed in black suits with earpieces and microphones scouring the campus. Loki retreated back into his dorm to grab the files and hid them in his sling bag. They would be safer with him than they would be if the men in black began to search dorm rooms. He had attempted to follow one of them but they had disappeared down a hallway he had never seen before that lead to a stairwell. Loki glanced down it and it seemed to go several feet down underground. Some secret underground bunker beneath the Academy?

 None of this was making any sense. Loki would have find Sif later as a plan began to formulate in his mind. He didn’t like it very much but it would be much harder for Director Fury to handle. A couple of students of with some classified information could easily disappear, but if he found a way to disperse the information to all the students. There would be no way that Fury could cover up a thousand of students from disappearing. He had just the place in mind to release the information.


	4. To greed, all nature is insufficient." - Seneca

Loki stood on top of the roof gazing out at the campus below him. The music playing over the headphone blocked out the noise of the bustling campus. He peered over the edge down at the ground. If he fell from this height, he would be killed by the sheer impact of hitting the ground. That’s what had happened to Gwen wasn’t it? She died from the impact of hitting the ground or perhaps her neck snapped on the way down from the velocity at which she fell. A decent crowd had gathered below at this moment. Several students looking up at him, pointing, grabbing their phones to take pictures and videos just as they had done with Gwen.

“You need to get off this roof now.” A voice called out from behind him.

“You should lock your doors better, Director Fury,” Loki answered, not turning around yet as he looked at the people gathering below.

“Those doors are locked for a reason, Mr. Laufeyson.” Fury replied.  “You and Miss Romanov have a nasty habit of breaking into places you shouldn’t.”

“Is that why you took her to that underground bunker you have beneath this campus?”

“You’re delaying the inevitable by keeping up with this bluff, Mr. Laufeyson. Step down from there and we will continue this talk somewhere else.”

“I’m serious. These people need to learn the truth about what you’re doing. You’re experimenting on us all!” Loki shouted at him, feeling the anger build in his chest. He held up the files. “I have the proof!”

Fury looked more pissed than usual. Loki wondered briefly if this was the right idea. “This is very real! You’re standing on the edge of this dormitory and if you fall, you will die.”

“I heard this from somewhere, maybe a video or a game. I don’t really care right now. In war, victory. In peace, vigilance. In war, bravery. And in death, sacrifice. Sounds a bit Orwellian to me. Just like you keeping tabs on everyone. Well guess what, Big Brother! I’ve got all the copies of your files! I can’t be selfish with the knowledge of what I learned, Fury. If I jump from this building, I’ll die but then everyone knows the truth!” Loki turned and stepped off the edge.

He closed his eyes. He wondered if he would feel the impact when he collided with the ground. He wondered how much it would hurt. He thought of Sif, wondering if she would be sad that he had jumped. Yet, she might be happy that he uncovered an evil secret organization and cut off one of its heads in the process of jumping from this building. In death, there were sacrifices to be made. He had a feeling that she knew that.

* * *

 

When Loki opened his eyes, he wasn’t greeted to the sight of rapidly approaching sidewalk from his fall. Instead, it was a blinding golden light. As he blinked his eyes slowly, the golden light shifted into the form of a person. He tried to reach up to it but his hand was pulled back down by something wrapped around his wrist. He could hear voices above him. None that made any sense to him. “Sif?” He rasped out her name as he tried to call for her. She would wonder about him. He was sure of it. He tried to move again but it seemed that both his legs and arms were being restrained down. He blinked again, his eyes blurring together colors and shapes. “Where…?” He pulled at his restraints.

“He’s awake. Please inform his highness. He will want to know as soon as possible,” A clearer voice said to another. Loki tugged once more at his restraints, wanting to be free of the damned things. “Relax, you’re going to hurt yourself if you’re not careful.”

“Where is Sif?” Loki asked, attempting to relax against the hard slab of metal. As he blinked, the colors and shapes began to take form of people. The golden light above him reminded him of some place, some clean place in a golden city. The same golden city from the memory flashes. There was another woman above him, inspecting a floating golden terminal. He knew her. She healed him before, hadn’t she?

“She is currently in a meeting with the King. You will be brought before them shortly.” She told him. Loki shifted, trying to become more comfortable. “Please, stay still. We’re checking to see if you suffered any internal injuries.”

“What happened to me?” He asked her. Had he been injured? She was healer, he was starting to remember that fact.

“You seem to have a lot of scars, some of them newer than others. They should have healed by now but they haven’t,” The healer answered.

“I jumped off a building.” Loki told her as he watched the golden light of himself on the soul forge. Soul forge? How did he know that?

“Yes, in the simulation, you jumped off a rather tall building. It nearly killed you.” Ear, was that her name? No, Eir. Eir was the healer attending to him. Loki shook his head. There were too many thoughts rushing into his head at once. He need to clear his mind.

“Chains?” He asked the guard as the guard chained his wrists together to another chain connecting his feet.

“The King ordered you be bound in chains.” The guard replied shortly. He seemed angry. What would the guard have to be angry about? The guard led him about the golden palace to the throne room. As Loki passed by rooms, the palace started to become more and more familiar to him. He had lived here once. This had been his home until he… What did he do again? The guard led him to the middle of the throne room. Loki took a cautious step forward as he looked up to the throne.

Thor. His memories began to race in his thoughts. He was a prisoner here because of Midgard. He had attacked Midgard, tried to use an alien army to claim the planet as his own. This was his punishment. That alternate world had been one of his punishments. He had been released from that hell. How much time had passed?

“Loki Laufeyson, you have passed four of your trials.” Thor announced from the throne as Loki was brought before him. This wasn’t right. Thor shouldn’t be in charge. Did Odin die? Had he fallen asleep again?

“I see they made you King in my absence,” Loki murmured as he looked around. The Warriors Three stood near the steps of the throne, watching him carefully with the rest of the guards. On the other side of the steps stood Thor’s women: his Mortal woman Jane Foster, her assistant, and Sif. “Did I miss Odin’s funeral?” It came out more bitter than Loki had preferred. He didn’t mean it that way, not so insincere. It was habit.

Thor tried to ignore Loki’s slight as he sighed heavily, “The Allfather is not dead. He is in the Odinsleep. The trials were designed by him.”

“I’ve managed to pass four of these trials? They must not be too hard then.” Loki pulled at his chains as he shifted his weight on his feet. These things were unable. They hinder any movement beyond a slow walk.  “Are these really necessary?”

“For now, it is necessary that you remain bound until it is determined if you can be redeemed or not. These tasks will determine if you are worthy. If you are, you will be seen as redeemed and your powers returned to you.” Thor answered, standing up from the throne. His hand subconsciously moving toward Mjolnir as he spoke about worthiness. “To fail any of these trials, it will seal your fate and you will be returned to your prison in the dungeons. The remaining trials will be harder to pass than you can imagine.”

Thor had dismissed him back to his chambers until the next trial. Loki stared at Sif while he was pushed out the door by the guards. He had wanted to speak to her, find out if she had been with him in the alternate world. The guards kept pushing him. He stretched out his hand, waiting instinctively for a blade to appear. None did so causing the guard to merely push him once again.

* * *

“Did you know?” Loki turned to see Sif standing in his doorway of his chambers. It had been several hours since he had seen her last in the throne room. The guards had confined him to his quarters until Thor could summon him for the next task. It was here that his memories started to slowly come back to him. The Frost Giants, Sif, all of it piecing itself back together bit by bit. Another guard had brought food for him to eat. Loki had been suspicious of the guard’s motives but took back all suspicion when the guard delivered a note from his Mother. She was watching over Odin currently as he slept, making sure he would live for many more centuries.

He stood from his chair, turning to address her fully, “I assume you’re referring to that fictitious alternate world I was sentenced to. I was aware I was not truly there.” He was partially right admitting that. He knew it was fake towards the end, but he didn’t realize that the entire world had been faked. He almost missed it in a way. Mostly he missed the diner and its food, even if the food had been subpar.

“Everything else indicates otherwise, especially in your attempt to pass the first trial. This is why it was necessary to send in someone to evaluate your process,” Sif explained to him as she stepped into the room. She nodded to the guards, who exited Loki’s chambers and closed the door behind them.

“I thought that was truly you. Only you would want to hunt me down in any manner,” Loki replied as he walked across his room to a table where a bottle of wine and a couple of glasses remained. He opened the bottle and poured some into the two glasses. He took the glasses from the table and walked over to her. He held out of the glasses as he spoke, “I assume it was Thor’s idea?”

“Actually, it was my idea.” Sif took the glass from him. “Once I was there, you passed four trials in a manner of weeks after you had been trapped there for a few years.  It was… a remarkable feat.” She tipped her glass slightly towards him as if to toast to him for his achievement. Loki clinked his glass against hers before they both raised their glasses for a toast. The first sip was sweeter than Sif expected until the initial after taste left a bitterness in her mouth. “You should be proud of yourself,” Sif told him.

“Should I?” Loki strolled back to his reading chair and continued to stare into the fireplace keeping his room nice and warm. Sif downed the rest of her glass before she grabbed the wine bottle and headed for the chair opposite of Loki. “I do not know how many tasks I have ahead of me, nor do I know what they entail. Without my powers, there’s very little chance that I will be able to pass these trials.”

“You put too much importance on your abilities. You passed the four trials without them. Surely you can pass the rest of them if you try hard enough.” Sif told him as she seated herself in the chair.

“If things become more difficult and I have to protect myself or others, how will I do so without my powers to assist me?” Loki inquired as he sipped the wine from his glass gingerly. He didn’t wish to argue with her, but at time she made it almost impossible to not cause a fight either verbal or physical.

“I have faith that you could find another way if you were to protect others without your powers,” Sif poured herself another glass, filling it so it was more full than what Loki had poured her before. Normally, wine didn’t suit her tastes but in these last few years without Loki, she had slowly started to appreciate its taste. Much like she had started to miss his presence. They spent most of the night drinking wine and talking quietly, on seemingly unimportant matters.

It was starting to feel like old times to the both of them when they ran out of a topic for conversation. The wine bottle was nearly empty at this time and Sif stared at him with an unreadable expression on her face. Her next question had surprised him in more ways than one. More so because he hadn’t expected to ask this question so soon following his return home. “May I sleep in your bed tonight? I promise there will be nothing but sleeping. I am tired and slightly tipsy. The walk to my room is a long one.”

Perhaps, she trying to trust him, to see if he would take advantage of her. He had no desire to do so, at least not tonight. Loki nodded slowly, “Of course you may stay. Stay for as long as you wish.” Loki gestured toward the bed which he slid into. It was growing late and Loki wanted to be well rested for the next trial if it was tomorrow. Sif peeled off the heavy armor of her outfit before she slid into the bed beside Loki in her simple leggings and tunic. Before long, he heard the telltale sign of Sif’s light snoring beside him and knew she was asleep. Loki stared up at the ceiling, trying to think about all the possible trials that awaited him the next day.


	5. "Sex is the consolation you have when you can't have love." - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

When Loki awoke, Sif was still asleep in his bed. During the night, she had curled up against him. Her head resting on his chest, her arm thrown over his waist, and the both of their legs had entwined. The Goddess of War looked peaceful for once. It reminded him of how they had been before Thor’s coronation. The secret trysts, the long gazes between them, and gentle touches when they could manage not to be seen by the others. Loki knew it was his fault for what had ended between them. He had been consumed by jealously toward Thor becoming king. He had lost the little he had when he betrayed them all.

Yet, Sif was here in his arms once again. Maybe she truly loved him enough to come back to him despite his faults. Loki gently began to trace patterns on her shoulder with his fingertips. He could live forever in this moment, wanting nothing more than Sif entwined with him looking as peaceful as she did right now. It caused his heart to ache for wanting such simplicity.

Eventually, Sif stirred and raised her sleepy head to gaze at him. “Good morning,” Loki murmured as he stopped his fingers.

“Good morning. I’m surprised you didn’t try to take advantage of our situation.” Sif said to him with a yawn as she began to wake up.

“You looked peaceful. I thought I would let you rest instead.” Loki admitted as he yawned as well.

“Peaceful, you say?” Sif asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Like you weren’t going to murder me for once.” Loki answered as he began to disentangle himself from Sif. “It was refreshing.”

Sif grabbed his arm before he could pull himself farther away from her. “Do you ever miss what was between us?” She asked him quietly.

His heart began to ache in his chest once again. “Truthfully?” He inquired. She slowly nodded her head. Both of knew she had no reason to trust his answer, not after everything he had done. He moved closer to her, wanting her to see the truth in his eyes. “I have never stopped loving you.”

Sif stared into his eyes for what seemed like an eternity before she finally spoke, “I would like to stay, but I must go help with the preparations of your next trial.”

She pulled away from him and left his chambers to head back to her own. Loki laid back on his bed, staring at the ceiling of his room, exhaling the shaky breath he had kept in. Whether she believed him or not, he had spoken the truth to her. He had never stopped loving her, despite everything had happened, despite believing she belonged to Thor.

He was unsure of how long he stayed like he was when a guard knocked on his door with a summons from Thor. Thor wanted him to go to the training yard shortly. Loki left the comfort of his bed to change into some clean clothes before departing to go find Thor.

“You summoned me?” Loki inquired as he stood before Thor in the middle of the training yard.

“Yes, Loki. You’ve passed four trials so far. Here is your fifth one,” Thor explained with a smile. Loki thought there was something unsettling about the way he was beaming brightly. He whistled and out stepped Sif…

And another Sif…

And another Sif….

Another Sif again…

And another Sif…

Sif once more…

And the last Sif.

One of them smirked at Loki’s confusion, “And here we thought you liked tricks.”

“This trial is simple,” another Sif remarked.

“You just have to figure out which of us…” One Sif began before another Sif finished the first one’s sentence.

“… is the real Sif.”

“I’m guessing that each of you are identical in every way possible so there’s no way to tell physically,” Loki murmured to himself.

Loki closed his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He should be able to identify her, but what was the point of this trial? Why figure out which one of these clones was the real Sif? None of these trials seemed random, but he hadn’t been given any clue as to what each of them were about. All he knew that he had passed four of them. Maybe if he focused on how he passed the others, it would help him to pass this one.

He supposed that being Sif’s guide was the first trial. She had admitted herself that her arrival caused him to pass four trials in such a short time. What sort of trial could it be to a guide?  She had been angry when she approached him… hunting him down after disappearing for so long. Usually he would have been angry that she had disturbed him especially once she tracked him down at the diner. He agreed to be her guide… reluctantly and showed her about the campus. Maybe because he demonstrated patience and thoughtfulness as a guide to show her areas she would appreciate as opposed to being his typical reckless and rage-filled self because he was put in a position that Fury knew he didn’t want to be? He filed the thought away.

What could be the second trial? If Sif was the catalyst behind him passing each trial, maybe it had been the memories as the result of his first kiss with Sif during this second trial or the next day when she kissed him? He supposed he demonstrated a restraint of his actions or a proper control of his actions as opposed to indulgence in either information or Sif’s tempting offer?

The third could be the files he sorted through with Natasha. Diligently working to find out what was going on with the campus and keeping their efforts meticulously secretive instead of hastily and thoughtlessly jumping at new information they found to bring down Fury?

The fourth trial was a simple one to figure out. He had sacrificed himself for the knowledge he had discovered. The sacrifice was what clearly brought him back to Asgard. If he had kept the knowledge to himself, he would very likely still be at the Academy of Hell.

A thought popped into his head as he thought about those files. Natasha had uncovered a file on his about trials he would undergo. It had to be these very same trials. He wasn’t the only one with a file. Sif had a file despite her short time being at the Academy.

_Project Odette._

Loki opened his eyes and stared at the seven Sif’s before him. One Sif for each trial? An image of one of the memories flashed through is mind. The piece of paper handed to him with words. Seven… Seven Sif’s. Seven trials? Loki quickly searched his mind for anything else relating to the number seven but there wasn’t anything clicking that felt right.

What about Odette? Why that particular designation for Sif’s file? He remembered that vaguely. Odette was a character from a novel? A story? What was Odette’s story?

He looked at each of them carefully. “What does the name Odette mean to you?”

“Odette is a woman from a Midgardian tale,” The Third Sif answers.

“A prince celebrates his birthday, but the revelries are interrupted by his mother, the Queen. She becomes concerned with her son’s careless lifestyle,” The First Sif begins to recount the story.

“She tells him that he must choose a bride at the royal ball the following evening. He becomes upset that he cannot marry for love,” The Sixth Sif continues for the first Sif.

“His friend tries to lift his troubled mood. As evening falls, the Prince and his friends take their weapons in pursuit of their prey.” The Seventh Sif remarks.

The story strikes Loki as being oddly familiar. He is about to ask what prey the Prince pursues when he realizes the story. He looks to his brother, “Swan Lake by Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky, a ballet that tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer’s curse.  The spell can only be broken if one who has never loved before swears to love Odette forever. In many versions of the story, the Prince accidentally confesses his love to Odile, a woman who appears identical to Odette in all aspects. You’ve inspired my trial after this love story.”

Thor nodded, his smile growing bigger. “You are on the right track. You do have to figure out which is the correct Sif and-”

“And I must do so by confessing my love… to the right Sif. To guess incorrectly would be to confess to someone else, this trial is designed to prove my affections for Sif alone.” Loki interrupted, raking his fingers back through his hair as he stared at the identical Sif’s. “I assume you’ve roped your Mortal, her assistant and the Warrior’s Three into this blasted trial. That leaves only two left. One of which is truly Sif.” Loki stared at each of them. They all seemed to be identical in every way, but there could certainly be ways around figuring out which is truly her besides her physical appearance. “I’m going to guess that anything important about Sif, all of you know or would have been informed, but the seven of you are going to play a little guessing game about me- of everything that Sif knows about me.” He grabbed each of them and put them into a circle with him in the center.

“Well start off simple, something most of you should get right. What is my preferred weapon of combat?” He turned to the first Sif.

“A dagger.”

“A dagger.”

“Magic.”

“A dagger.

“Magic.”

“Dagger.”

“Dagger.”

“Sif 3 and 5 are incorrect. Imposters.” He pushed each of them back and watched as they transformed back to their normal selves. It was the Mortal woman and her assistant. Loki turned back to the others.

“A harder question this time. What is my favorite animal?”

“A snake.”

“Serpent.”

“Serpent.”

“Wolf.”

“Wolf.”

“Sif 1, Sif 2, and Sif 3 are wrong. You must be the Warrior’s Three.” Loki shoved them away until he was left with the last two Sif’s. He wouldn’t be able to give these two any two answer questions. The real Sif could say the wrong answer and the wrong one could say the right one to throw him off. He could give them a trick question though. Another question, one with two answers.

“Last night, one of you stayed with me in my room, drinking wine until…” Loki began truthfully. He smirked to himself as he finished the question, “…one of us took advantage of the other in the heat of the moment. Who was it?”

“It was me!” One Sif answered.

“You’re wrong. It was clearly Loki!” The other declared.

They were both wrong.  “You said Sif was here but these last two are only imposters. None of you are Sif.” Loki slowly turned toward Thor. “Neither of us took advantage of the other.”

“One would say your wit is just as sharp as your daggers.” Thor answered grinning at him. “Yet, Sif is still in this training yard and you must still find her.”

“How can she be in the training yard?” He looked at the two imposters who had still not shifted back to their original forms. “Neither of these two can possibly be her. Nothing happened last night between us. The real Sif would know that.”

“I’m confident you will find her. Opposites attract, you know.” Thor replied.

Loki felt like hitting himself in the face for being so stupid. Sif had said that before back when he was at the Academy. Everyone had thought she would get together with Thor because they were similar, but Thor and Loki were complete opposites. Of course, she would take on the disguise of Thor in a trial about herself. He closed his eyes as he ran his hand down his face, “I could kiss you for tricking me so well, but alas you wear Thor’s face, my love.” When he reopened his eyes, Thor was gone and Sif stood in his place.

She was smiling at him again with that damned smile she had worn before at the Academy. He looked at the other two Sif’s, who had changed back to Thor and Frigga. Loki sighed heavily as the weight from his shoulders was lifted. He had passed this damn trial and now he could be sure Sif wasn’t going to beat him into the ground for choosing incorrectly.

Sif grabbed his hands as she spoke, “You have passed the fifth trial.”

“Thank the Norns,” Loki pulled Sif to him and kissed her properly now that her face was her own. It delighted him that she kissed him back before pulling away from him. Thor clasped his hand on his brother’s shoulder following their kiss.

“Congratulations, Loki. We will have to throw a celebration for you and your success so far!” Thor beamed at him. “Tonight! We will expect the both of you to be there so do not be late!”


	6. “Jealousy is the tie that binds, and binds, and binds.” - Helen Rowland

This celebration felt like torture. Loki would go as far to say it was torture.

He had arrived merely moments ago with Sif accompanying him. She had arrived at his door in a glimmering gold dress. Loki thought she had looked so beautiful he wanted to rip the dress off of her and have his way with her right there. He restrained himself when Sif reminded them the others were waiting for them at the celebration.

They entered together with Sif on his arm. He smiled at the thought of her wanting the others to know she was with him.

Everything was going fine until ropes appeared and bound him to his chair as he sat down. He had unwittingly fallen into another trap. He looked over at Sif to see her watching him with an amused smile. “Another trial, I presume?”

“Yes, another trial,” Sif replied as she ate the food from her plate.

The others surrounding him didn’t seem to care about his situation whatsoever and continued to eat their food. He hadn’t eaten anything yet today and watching them eat made him even more hungry. His own plate stayed in front of him but he was unable to reach it. Every time he tried to pull against the ropes, they pulled tighter around him.

What was the point of this trial? It seemed to be designed to keep him from eating. He had thought to try to trick the ropes bounding him by thinking he didn’t want the food in front of him but the ropes bound tighter against his trick. Fine then. He wanted to eat. The ropes did nothing against that thought but he still couldn’t move.

And then it began, a young man approached Sif and asked her to dance. She accepted.

These damned ropes only began to dig more and more into his arms and legs as he watched Sif dance with suitor after suitor after suitor.

Why was she spending so much time dancing with those fools when he was trying to figure out how to pass this trial?

But then, another thought creeped into his mind. Why was he worrying about Sif dancing with those other men? If she truly loved him or believed his love to her was genuine, she would return to him. He had no reason to worry about her.

At those thoughts, he began to relax and as he did, the ropes began to relax as well.                    

He would eat at some point. He would be able to enjoy this celebration eventually.

The song she danced to came to a close and she returned by his side. “You looked like you’re having fun,” Loki said as he could move his head once again. The rope around his neck seemed to have disappeared entirely.

“You don’t look as stiff as you did early. Are you enjoying yourself as well?” She teased him as she stole a grape from his plate and popped it into her mouth.

“Very funny,” Loki answered, feeling himself relax now that she was sitting beside him again. It didn’t feel like he was bound to the chair anymore. He pulled his arm away from the armrest carefully. There was nothing holding him down any longer. He sighed in relief.

Thor approached the two of them. “Shall we dance, Sif?” Thor asked Sif as Loki reached for his fork.

“Yes, that sounds like fun.” Sif agreed, taking Thor’s hand. The ropes snapped Loki back against the chair once again. Damn. He had been so close. He just needed to remain calm. There was no need to get worked up. Sif stood up beside him as Thor lead her out to the dance floor.

“Will you dance with me after?” Loki asked, hoping he sounded calm and not panicked.             

“Of course,” Sif promised as she smiled at the situation he was in again.

He had to remain calm. Sif would return to him as she promised and then he would be able to dance with her. There was nothing to worry about, no reason to be suspicious of anything between Thor and Sif. His Midgardian was here after all and Thor loved her, not Sif. He would be freed when Sif returned. He was sure of it. The ropes forced him to watch them dance, but he was fine. Sif looked beautiful and focused his eyes to watch her alone as she danced with Thor.

After what seemed like eternity, Sif was approaching him. He relaxed in his chair, the ropes unwinding as he did. Another man tried to ask her for a dance, but Sif declined saying she had already promised a dance to someone else. Sif reached him easily, her hand outstretched toward him. Loki grabbed her hand and pulled himself out of the chair. He escorted her out to the dance floor as the next song began to play slowly. Loki set his free hand on her waist as she set her free hand on his shoulder. Loki led her around the dance floor. Sif continued to smile at him until Loki spoke, “Yes, my love?”

“You have passed your sixth trial.” Sif answered as Loki twirled her around.

“Such tortures I have been put through in these trials. Although it has given me a few ideas.” Loki told her. She was so amused by his situation, but once he had his magic again, she would be bound to his bed while he teased her endlessly.

“Oh?” She raised an eyebrow at him.

“If I pass all my trials, it will be a surprise for you, my love.”

“A surprise for me?”

“Yes, one we will thoroughly enjoy.” Loki replied, hiding his smirk to himself. “It will also be a nice incentive to get me through the rest of the trials.” His stomach growled loudly and Sif laughed.

“We can stop dancing if you would like to eat, Loki,” she told him.

“I’m slightly inclined to believe that if I sit down again, I will be tied back down to the chair.” Loki admitted with a grin as the two stopped dancing.

“I can feed you your meal if that is to happen again, but since you passed, I do not think it shall,” Sif pulled him back to the table. He sat down beside her and the two of them began to eat their meal once again. Occasionally, Sif would feed him some of her food and Loki did the same for her.

The two remained oblivious to the others around them as they drank and ate. Slowly, their self-control began to wither away and they would drift closer together. It was no surprise to anyone when two finally left the celebration together. Loki dragged Sif back to his room, attempting to silence her giggling but he failed several times before he joined her laughter.

When they tumbled through Loki’s door, Loki thought briefly of how drunk they actually were but all thoughts were silenced as Sif kissed and pulled him to the bed.


	7. "We are rarely proud when we are alone" - Voltaire

When Loki awoke, he was surprised that the spot beside him was not warm considering Sif had spent the night in his bed. He stretched out his arm to see if she had rolled away from him in the night as he yawned tiredly. His hand swept against her back causing him to grin. After he maneuvered himself behind her, he laid his head on her shoulder, moving her hair out of his view of her face. She must have answered the door, judging by the fact she was wearing his robe and he could feel the slight breeze from the crack in the open door. He wrapped his arms around her but Sif remained quiet ever since he awoke. “Is something the matter?”

“You have failed your trials.” Sif murmured. Her voice was almost too quiet for him to hear.

He was sure he had heard her wrong. “What?”

“I was just informed. You’ve failed.” Sif whispered quietly.

“How? I didn’t… I’ve been here. I didn’t do anything-” Loki attempted to argue, pulling away from her.

Sif turned toward him and grabbed his hands as he tried to move away from her. She held his hands in hers. “Loki, I’m sorry. There’s nothing to be done.”

His shoulders slumped in defeat and his gaze fell to the bed. “When will they come for me?”

“In a hour. They want to be thorough that you cannot escape when they return you to your cell.” He had tried to will the growing tears away but they kept building until he began to cry. “Loki, please don’t cry.” She wrapped her arms around him, rubbing small soothing circles into his back.

“How did I fail? I was working so hard.”

“We could try to run before they get here. Head for Midgard or someplace where it will be difficult to track us.” Sif lowered her voice as she made the suggestion. She didn’t like the idea of running away from the place she had called home for so long. Yet, she didn’t want to see Loki returned to his cell. He didn’t deserve this. He had worked hard on each trial. She hadn’t believed it when the guard came to tell her that he had failed one of them. He had passed all but one trial. Surely, they would pardon him for one mistake. Loki didn’t deserve to return to his prison, not after changing so much.

When she had first seen him in that alternate Midgardian reality, she could tell he had already changed so much. He didn’t treat her with hostility like he normally would have. Sif was convinced that he truly cared for her when he said he did. He had reminded her of the way he was before Jotunheim. That old familiarity was what warmed her heart towards him as had when he had protected her. He had sacrificed himself for her, declared his love for her and proven it twice. Now, he wept against her and she felt helpless in any way of trying to soothe him.

“No, Sif. Running away again wouldn’t help. It would only further prove how I cannot be redeemed.” Loki reached up to wipe his tears away. “I will have to make a stand before them.” Sif cupped his cheek and wiped away a stray tear. She lifted his face so he could see her before she kissed him gently. One of his hands wound into her hair as the other pulled her flush against him. He kissed her hard, not wanting to let go of her again.

They had been drunk last night when they tumbled into bed together. Memories of blurred hands, kisses, and the way their bodies had blended together fitting like pieces of a puzzle.

They could have this one last moment together. Loki pulled back from Sif slightly, so he could untie the ties of the robe gently. Sif let the robe fall from her shoulders as Loki stared at her in awe before pulling her back to him again. He placed soft kisses against the curve of her jaw while Sif straddled his thighs, her nails digging into the muscles of his arms. His mouth began to trail kisses down her throat as one hand kept her waist secure against him and the other skimmed down her spine causing her to shiver against him. They hadn’t much time left together but neither wanted to rush the process along. His lips were gently against her skin as he traced her collar bone. His fingers traced along her side until they reached the fullness of her breasts, squeezing ever so gently as he kissed his way to her breasts. He kept one hand on her breast, teasing a sensitive nipple between his fingers, while his tongue played with the other, shifting from tender licks to harsh suckling. Sif moaned in pleasure as he did the same to the other breast, dimly aware she was grinding her lower body against his. His hand gripped her waist tightly, his hips thrusting against hers in return.

Loki pulled on her nipple teasingly with his teeth, Sif’s gasp in response sparking a desire for him to hear more. He twisted them around so she was laying on the bed, stretched out against his soft silky green sheets. He kissed her hard again, his hands mapped her body converted it to his memory so he could never forget this moment. He only pulled away from her mouth to trace his path down her body again until he was sinking between her legs. His green eyes stared up at hers as he pressed a light kiss to the inside of her thigh before nipping the same spot sharply. Her moan sharply changed into a gasp at the sensation. Her fingers gripped the bedsheets tightly. It had been too long since they done this last, but Loki still seemed to know what made her blood rush and her heart race. He continued to press kisses against her inner thighs before nipping at where previously kissed, his tongue following to caress the pain. She cried out as he finally, finally lowered his mouth against her soaking core. His silvertongue remembered how to cause her to cry out in abandon, shifting between tongue flicking and lapping against her. Her body arched against him, her fingers twisted into his hair, her other hand entwined with his. His free hand moved to delve his fingers into her, caressing and moving against her body’s thrashing.

Sif whimpered when he pulled away from her, leaving her frustrated and wanting for more. She pulled him closer again with the hand she had in his black hair. “Please…” She whined as he crawled back up her body. His green eyes shined brightly as he stared into hers. “Loki, please…” He pressed into her gently.

The both of them breathing heavily as they stared at each other. Loki entwined both of her hands with his own as he spoke, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Sif murmured, gripping his hands tightly. She groaned as he began to move in and out of her. Her hips rose and fell in an effort to keep pace with him as his slow and steady thrusts began to become harder and faster. Her legs wrapped around his hips, allowing him to thrust into her at a new angle.  She was dimly aware she was gasping- or was she screaming- his name repetitively. She knew she was shaking and writhing beneath him, teetering on the edge of her release. Loki’s shaky breaths were in her ear, his hands holding her down against the bed as he drove into her again and again. He moaned her name as she nipped at his jaw.

The both of them were right there, teetering on the edge of release. Sif fell over the edge first as Loki nipped back at her earlobe with his teeth. She cried out his name, nails digging into his hands and arching her body against him. Loki came with a gasp, his eyes half shut as his body trembled against hers, filled her with his seed with one final thrust. He collapsed against her tiredly, releasing her hands from his own as he wrapped his arms around her. Sif rubbed his back gently as she returned her breathing to normal. 

“We should get ready,” Sif told him.

“Not yet. Just wait a little while longer.” Loki replied, holding her close to him for a few moments. When they finally parted from each other and Sif had changed back into her gown, she stared at him from the doorway with a sad expression before she took off for her rooms to change quickly for the assembly.

Loki took his time changing and getting ready for the assembly where he would be punished. When Loki exited his room, two guards stood beside the door with chains and shackles. He stretched his hands out toward them and they chained his hands and feet together. They took him to the throne room and he was surprised to see Thor on the stairs. He looked up and caught the gaze of the Allfather. He was doomed.

“Loki Laufeyson…” Odin began slowly. “You were sentenced to undergo a series of trials. To fail any of these trials, seals your fate and you will be returned to the dungeons. You have failed in your trials. Do you accept your fate?”

“I accept.” Loki answered. There was no way to argue otherwise. Even if he tried to argue that he passed all the other trials, he had no idea how he failed this one and no way to argue that he didn’t fail it. Loki tore his gaze away from the Allfather to stare at his chains. This was how it was going to end. He was going to be chained up or locked away for the rest of his life. He was never going to see Sif again or Thor or any of them. Never, not unless he attempted to escape and if he managed to do so, he would be hunted if he tried to run. They wouldn’t let him live or maybe they would torture him just as Thanos had done to teach him a lesson.

“Loki Laufeyson,” Odin continued. “You possess the courage of a true heart.” Loki snapped his head up at Odin’s words. What was he- “It was necessary for you to undertake these tasks which have proven to be difficult, tedious, and unglamorous. You have patiently undertaken each task carefully and diligently. You’ve shown self-restraint and disciplined yourself when necessary. While keeping a purity of your romantic intentions, you have the ability to trust those you care about without being suspicious of their actions. Above all, you’ve shown humility in the face of defeat instead of boasting your vanity or arrogance for completing all the other trials.” That was it. That had been the last trial. He accepted his fate instead of running or trying to argue otherwise to save himself of his own pride. “You have graciously accepted the sacrifices involved through each trial. You have proven to be worthy. You have been redeemed and your powers have been returned to you.” The shackles on Loki’s hands and feet fell off. “There will be a celebration for your success.”

* * *

 

It was during the celebration that Loki found Sif next. He spotted her next to the Warriors Three and he walked over to her. She gave him a smile as he approached her before she spoke, “You passed your trials, Loki.”

Loki laughed as he picked her up and twirled her around. “I’ll stay with you as long as you’ll have me.”

Thor approached the two and pulled Loki into a hug, “You did it, brother! I never doubted you for a moment!”

“Well, we did slightly doubt you for a moment with Sif’s trial yesterday. We were all identical,” Fandral added. Hogun nodded in agreement.

“Or when it looked like you were going to murder the young men dancing with Sif,” Volstagg laughed.

“You did so well, my son,” Frigga hugged Loki once Thor let him go. Loki hugged her back tightly. “It seems as though your trials with Sif are far from over.”

Loki gave his mother a suspicious look. Had she been gazing into the future to see if his future again? “What sort of trials will these be?”

“It is hard to say,” Frigga responded vaguely. “Children can be a handful. I know the three of you certainly were.”

His face flushed as he looked to Sif, who looked equally surprised and embarrassed. “Children?” She asked, her hand touching her stomach.

“Eventually,” Frigga answered, her eyes sparkling with mischief before she walked away.

“Welcome to the joys of parenthood!” Volstagg lifted the two of them up with one arm. “My Gilda can tell all you about preparing for the little one’s arrival.”

“Loki, you’re supposed to marry Sif first before you get her pregnant!” Thor exclaimed. The rest of the hall erupted with whispers and murmurs of gossip.

“She’s not- I didn’t- We didn’t-” Loki stammered, turning red under the gazes of his friends.

“I guess he’ll just have to marry me soon then,” Sif said to them all after she grabbed Loki’s hand and held it tightly. Loki looked at their hands before he looked to Sif. She looked at him expectedly.

He gazed back into her eyes, a sparkle shining in them. If anyone would be the one to redeem him, it could only be her. It had already been proven multiple times these last few years. Even if there was an unexpected child on the way, he could handle it as long as she was by his side. The thought brought a smile to his face. “Do you think I’d let you marry anyone else?” He told her before he gripped her hand tightly.

If he possessed the courage of a true heart, then that heart was already Sif’s.


End file.
